The water was clear but her conscience was not.

Carla gazed into the crystal goblet's depths, the sparkling liquid reflecting the sunlight that filtered through the kitchen's old fashioned windows. It was one of the things that originally attracted them to the old, refurbished barn. The glass irregular, thicker at the bottom, letting the natural light unevenly through its depths, like the sun seen from underwater.

Carla smiled at the memory. They had been happier then. Happy and in love and carefree, despite the financial uncertainty of starting a new life together. But they had scrimped and saved for their dream home, worked to refurbish the place they would spend the rest of their lives together.

Her smile faltered at that. The rest of his life anyway. The affair would tear them apart. She knew he would never forgive her, never look at her the same way again. She couldn't live with the look in his eyes, the one that was sure to come once he received the proof of her infidelity, postmarked and crisp in the morning's mail.

Nothing could be seen in her glass but the light shining through the clear water and crystal. She smiled, added the poison, and watched it dissolve before drinking. She noted the fine taste of death before finally closing her eyes.

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ganymeder (joined over 13 years ago)
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Author Catherine Russell shares her life with her high school sweetheart, their son, and two ferocious puppies in the Wilds of Ohio while writing short stories, editing her novel, and learning more about the craft every day. Her work has been published in Flash Me magazine, Metro Fiction, Beyond Centauri, and the ‘Best of Friday Flash – Volume One‘ and the ‘Best of Friday Flash – Volume Two‘ anthologies.

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